Alexandria, Va. – September 25, 2009 - The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has named the Cullman City Schools in Cullman, Ala. as a 2009 Salute District for its commitment to providing all students with the technology tools and engaging instruction they need to be successful.
Cullman City Schools is one of three districts in the nation receiving the award, including Jeffco Public Schools in Golden, Colorado and the Newport News Public Schools in Virginia. The Salute District honor is a recognition program of NSBA’s Technology Leadership Network that showcases school districts that have effectively executed technology resources to make a positive impact on learning. The three Salute Districts will be honored during NSBA’s 2009 T+L Conference in Denver, October 28-30.
With nearly 3,000 students, the Cullman City Schools embarked on an ambitious one-to-one learning project for all seventh to twelfth grade students in 2005. Recognizing that children in the district did not have the same access to technology resources, a comprehensive professional development program was implemented to ensure that new instructional strategies, along with the new laptops, would maximize the learning experience for all students. Through the careful collection and evaluation of data, the district can identify key indicators of the initiative’s success including decreased discipline infractions, increased motivation and interest in learning, and improved test scores.
Cullman City Schools has an overall attendance rate of 97 percent and a graduation rate of 90 percent, well above the national average. Ann Flynn, director of education technology for NSBA, said, “Before we can graduate students, we first must engage them in learning. It is clear that the initiatives Cullman City Schools’ administrators and board members have put into practice are achieving that goal.”
Since 1987, NSBA's Technology Leadership Network (TLN) has served local district leadership teams that establish policy and implement technology decisions to enhance teaching and learning, administrative operations, and community outreach.
Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (www.nsba.org) is a not-for-profit federation of state associations of school boards representing 95,000 local school board members throughout the United States. Its mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education through local school board leadership. NSBA represents the school board perspective in working with federal government agencies and national organizations that impact education, and provides vital information and services to state associations of school boards throughout the nation.
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